Costa Rica: plugs, voltage, currency, time & travel facts

Plugs and voltage

Costa Rica uses Types A and B sockets. Mains supply is 120 V at 60 Hz.

At 120 V, devices from 220–240 V countries that are not dual-voltage will run weakly or not at all. Chargers labelled “100–240V” work fine with just a plug adapter.

Adapter guides: from United States

Money

₡ Costa Rican Colón CRC

Average in 2025: 1 USD = 503.5 CRC (World Bank). No daily reference rate is published for this currency by the ECB; check a live rate before exchanging.

Price level 62 (US = 100, 2025)

Everyday household prices in Costa Rica are about 62% of US prices when converted at market exchange rates: dearer than the median country (50). All countries

Language

Spanishofficial95%

Bars show the share of the population that speaks each language (CLDR estimates).

Time

UTC−6

Costa Rica is on UTC−6, with no daylight saving time.

Driving

Traffic in Costa Rica drives on the right, so the steering wheel is on the left.

Public holidays in the next 12 months

9 national public holidays from 2 November 2026. Banks, offices and many shops close; regional holidays are not shown. Dates marked “estimated” follow a lunar calendar and can move by a day.